The Connecticut Huskies won’t play in the NCAA Tournament this season. They won’t compete in the Big East championship. With the team ineligible for both events because of academic sanctions, what they have to play for is pride, and they had to leave Friday night’s 66-62 victory over Big Ten power Michigan State with nearly enough to last the season.

Playing in front of an appreciative audience of military personnel at the Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany, UConn held off a strong rally from the Spartans and won the game on an enormous 3-pointer from guard Ryan Boatright and four clutch free throws from veteran point guard Shabazz Napier.

It was the season opener for both teams and also was the first game for Kevin Ollie as UConn head coach. At the buzzer, Hall of Famer Jim Calhoun, working as part of the Connecticut radio crew, flashed a huge smile at the Huskies’ success.

Though the game was played well past midnight local time, most of the military members in the audience were on their feet in the final minutes as the Huskies held Michigan State at bay, mostly by rebounding the open shots the Spartans missed down the stretch.

Since the sanctions were imposed against UConn, the program lost two essential players: Center Alex Oriakhi transferred to Missouri and forward Roscoe Smith to UNLV. But the Huskies still have their electric backcourt, and Napier led the team with 25 points while Boatright contributed 13.

“It’s all about these players, because they believed,” Ollie told ESPN. “They didn’t go anywhere. They stayed loyal to the program. We’re going to continue to do this. We’re going to keep building.”

Asked what the flight home to the U.S. would be like, Ollie said, “It’s going to be good. We’re going to sleep a little bit, but it’s going to be good.”

Michigan State began this season the way it ended the last one, handling the basketball as if it were made of thorns.

The Spartans turned over the ball 15 times and made only 14 field goals in their NCAA Tournament loss to Louisville last March, and even though they traveled more than 4,000 miles to play UConn it appeared they could not escape that horrific defeat.

MSU committed eight turnovers in the first 13 minutes, which was the biggest reason it fell behind UConn, 36-21. Coach Tom Izzo told ESPN during a first-half timeout that the Spartans had to calm down, and eventually they did.

The Spartans did not give up the ball in the final seven minutes of the first half and outscored the Huskies 15-6 going into the break. What looked as though it might become a blowout, an intercontinental bore, it became a mesmerizing game in the final 20 minutes.

CREAN GETS A RAISE

The occasion of Indiana’s first game as a No. 1 team in nearly two decades seemed to athletics director Fred Glass to be an ideal opportunity to announce a contract extension for the man who made that happen: Coach Tom Crean.

Before tip-off Friday night between IU and Bryant, Glass presented that news and a proclamation that IU basketball “is back.” Both drew enormous cheers from the Assembly Hall crowd.

Crean’s two extra contract years extend his term to 2020.

“Tom Crean has done an absolutely phenomenal job bringing Indiana University back to its rightful place as one of the elite basketball programs in the country,” Glass said in a statement. “His energy, integrity, ability, passion, industry, vision and commitment are unparalleled.” Indiana surged to a 27-9 record and Sweet 16 appearance last season after winning only 28 games combined in Crean’s first three seasons.

It took a while for the success to arrive as Crean rebuilt a program that did not contain a single veteran scholarship player when he began his first season. The entire roster of scholarship players vacated the program after NCAA sanctions were imposed over a couple handfuls of impermissible recruiting calls were made by then-coach Kelvin Sampson.

Crean attracted such players as forward Christian Watford and guard Jordan Hulls to form the foundation of the program and then scored big in recruiting with center Cody Zeller. As a sophomore, Zeller is Sporting News’ preseason player of the year, and IU our No. 1 team.

As part of his contract extension, Crean will get a pay raise from $2.52 million to $3.16 million. He also will be eligible for an academic bonus worth as much as $55,000 annually.

“Since we arrived in April of 2008, we have been ‘all in,’ ” Crean said. “Even through all of the challenges, our love and passion never wavered for Indiana basketball and all that the school and the state embodies.

SNAER FAILS TO BACK UP TALK

South Alabama and Florida State played one year ago. You probably don’t remember that one. This one will be harder to forget because it became the first genuine upset of the 2012-13 season.

USA traveled to Tallahassee for the second consecutive season and this time left with a 76-71 victory. The result represents a 46-point turnaround from last season’s 80-39 FSU victory.

Guard Antoine Allen, a junior from Baltimore, came off the bench to hit 4-of-5 from 3-point range and score 21 points to propel the Jaguars to the victory.

FSU’s Michael Snaer had made some pretty bold statements about his ability during the offseason. In an interview with ESPN, he said that after performing at the LeBron James Skills Academy he began to feel, “I'm the best guard in the country, the best 2-guard in the country, in my opinion. Any guy would say that of course. But, like I said, you ask any of the guys that were down there (in) that drill with me and who laced up and went against me -- I can give you references if you want -- but they'll tell you, 'Yeah, I couldn't guard him and nobody down there could.' "

Maybe it’s because no one from South Alabama was there, because Snaer finished Friday night’s game 2-of-11 from the field, 0-for-6 on 3-pointers. He scored 10 points. Offensively challenged frequently in past seasons, the Seminoles shot only 41.5 percent from the field.

‘BAMA BUZZER BEATER

It won’t be one of those shots that is remembered and replayed throughout college basketball history. Trevor Lacey will not have his name revered like he’s Tyus Edney or Bryce Drew or Scottie Reynolds.

This was the 2K Sports Classic, not the NCAA Tournament.

A sophomore guard at Alabama, Lacey will carry the distinction of firing the first dramatic buzzer-beater of the 2012-13 season. In a tie game with the clock racing toward 0:00, Lacey crossed over South Dakota State’s Brayden Carlson, made a hard dribble move toward his right hand and then pulled up to launch a 3-pointer over Carlson’s hand. When the shot landed in the goal, there was time only for the Crimson Tide to celebrate a 70-67 victory.

That's what you call a Bama Buzzer Beater.

The shot gave Lacey 15 points for the evening and Alabama a win in its season opener despite its early 29-18 deficit and the brilliant 30-point performance by Jackrabbits star guard Nate Wolters.

Wolters bagged that total on just 15 shots. He made 5-of-6 from 3-point range, passed for three assists and picked up three steals. He averaged 21.5 points for last season’s NCAA Tournament squad, but it would seem he is headed for a monster senior season -- even with his team starting 0-1.

Although the Tide struggled to defend Wolters and the entire Jackrabbits lineup, there were positives in the 18-point effort from guard Trevor Releford and 17 from sophomore wing Rodney Cooper. The Tide did not shoot well as a team from long distance -- at least not until Lacey’s huge bucket at the end.

SAY HELLO TO ...

Xavier sophomore guard Dee Davis, who took control of the Musketeers’ offense with star freshman Semaj Christon out because of an infection and delivered 22 points and 15 assists in a 117-75 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson. Those numbers aren’t terribly far from Davis’ totals for his entire freshman season: 68 points, 29 assists.

SAY GOODNIGHT TO ...

Duke redshirt freshman Alex Murphy, who pulled a DNP in the Blue Devils’ 74-55 victory over Georgia State. Freshman forward Amile Jefferson got 13 minutes and scored five points, and Duke played four guards a total of 111 minutes. “We didn’t get to where Alex would play, but Alex has got to be able to play,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said afterward.

SAY A PRAYER FOR ...

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights, who opened the season at home against St. Peter’s and managed to score only 52 points in 40 minutes, shooting 35.8 percent from the field and committing only two fewer turnovers (17) than they managed field goals (19) in a 56-52 loss to the Peacocks. Good news: It’s nearly two months until the Knights have to play a Big East opponent. Bad news: That team is Syracuse.